Editing Mediterranean seas

{{Short description|Mostly enclosed sea with limited exchange with outer oceans}}
{{About|the term|the namesake sea|Mediterranean Sea}}
{{Sources|date=July 2024}}

In [[oceanography]], a '''mediterranean sea''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɛ|d|ɪ|t|ə|ˈ|r|eɪ|n|i|ə|n}} {{respell|MED|ih|tə|RAY|nee|ən}}) is a mostly enclosed [[sea]] that has limited exchange of water with outer [[ocean]]s and whose water circulation is dominated by [[salinity]] and temperature differences rather than by winds or tides.<ref name="Advanced Ocean Modeling">
{{cite book
| last = Kämpf
| first = Jochen
| chapter = 5.5.2: Mediterranean Seas
| title = Advanced Ocean Modelling: Using Open-Source Software
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RBOYdrWjhSQC
| location = [[Heidelberg]]
| publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Science & Business Media]]
| date = 2010
| page = 138
| isbn = 9783642106101
| access-date = 2017-09-05
| quote = Mediterranean seas of the Indian Ocean are the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and the Australasian Mediterranean Sea, including the Banda, Java, Sulawesi, and Sulu seas, being connected with the Pacific Ocean.}}
</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://mt-oceanography.info/regoc/pdfversion.html |title=Regional oceanography: an introduction |last1=Tomczak|first1=M. |last2=Godfrey|first2=J. Stuart |date=2003 |publisher=Daya |isbn=8170353068 |edition=2nd |location=[[Delhi]] |chapter=Chapter 7: Arctic oceanography; the path of North Atlantic Deep Water |oclc=52613155 |access-date=23 May 2019 |chapter-url=https://mt-oceanography.info/regoc/pdffiles/colour/single/07P-Arctic.pdf}}</ref> The eponymous [[Mediterranean Sea]], for example, is almost completely enclosed by [[Africa]], [[Asia]], and [[Europe]].

==List of mediterranean seas by ocean==
===Atlantic Ocean===
* The [[Arctic Ocean]] (a.k.a. the ''Arctic Mediterranean Sea'')<ref>{{Cite book |title=General oceanography : an introduction |date=1980 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0471021024 |edition=2nd |location=New York |pages=501 |oclc=6200221}}</ref>
* The [[American Mediterranean Sea]] (the combination of the [[Caribbean Sea]] and the [[Gulf of Mexico]])<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt167nb66r |title=The Oceans Their Physics, Chemistry, and General Biology |pages=15, 35 and 637–643 }}</ref>
* [[Baffin Bay]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Charles C. L |last2=Ross |first2=Charles K. |last3=Yao |first3=Tom |last4=Petrie |first4=Brian |last5=DeTracey |first5=Brendan M. |last6=Dunlap |first6=Ewa |date=2004-12-01 |title=The circulation, water masses and sea-ice of Baffin Bay |journal=Progress in Oceanography |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=183–228 |doi=10.1016/j.pocean.2004.09.005 |bibcode=2004PrOce..63..183T |issn=0079-6611}} "Baffin Bay is a mediterranean sea connected through restrictive straits to the Arctic Ocean and the Labrador Sea/Atlantic Ocean"</ref>
* The [[Baltic Sea]]
* The namesake [[Mediterranean Sea]] (including the [[Adriatic Sea]], the [[Aegean Sea]] (including the [[Sea of Crete]] and the [[Thracian Sea]]), the [[Alboran Sea]], the [[Balearic Sea]], the [[Black Sea]], the [[Ionian Sea]], the [[Ligurian Sea]], the [[Sea of Azov]], the [[Sea of Marmara]], and the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]])

===Indian Ocean===
* The [[Persian Gulf]]
* The [[Red Sea]]<ref name="Advanced Ocean Modeling" />

===Pacific Ocean===
* The [[Australasian Mediterranean Sea]] (including the [[Banda Sea]], the [[Java Sea]], the [[Sulawesi Sea]], and the [[Sulu Sea]])<ref name="Advanced Ocean Modeling" />

== List of mediterranean seas by type ==
There are two types of mediterranean sea.

=== Concentration basin ===
A '''concentration basin''' has a higher salinity than the outer ocean due to evaporation, and its water exchange consists of inflow  of the fresher oceanic water in the upper layer and outflow of the saltier mediterranean water in the lower layer of the connecting [[channel (geography)|channel]].

* The [[Mediterranean Sea|Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea]] (a concentration basin as a whole, but the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea are dilution basins (see below) owing to the [[Po (river)|Po River]], and the [[Danube]], [[Dnieper]], and [[Don (river)|Don]] rivers respectively)
* The [[Persian Gulf]]
* The [[Red Sea]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sofianos |first1=Sarantis S. |last2=Johns |first2=William E. |date=2007 |title=Observations of the summer Red Sea circulation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006jc003886 |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |volume=112 |issue=C6 |doi=10.1029/2006jc003886 |bibcode=2007JGRC..112.6025S |issn=0148-0227}}</ref>

=== Dilution basin ===
A '''dilution basin''' has a lower salinity due to freshwater gains such as rainfall and rivers, and its water exchange consists of outflow of the fresher mediterranean water in the upper layer and inflow of the saltier oceanic water in the lower layer of the channel. Renewal of deep water may not be sufficient to supply [[oxygen]] to the bottom.

* The [[Adriatic Sea]]
* The [[American Mediterranean Sea]]
* The [[Arctic Ocean]] (a.k.a. the ''Arctic Mediterranean Sea'')
* The [[Australasian Mediterranean Sea]]
* [[Baffin Bay]]
* The [[Baltic Sea]]
* The [[Black Sea]]

==Exceptions==
* [[Hudson Bay]] is so shallow it functions like a huge [[estuary]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pew.org/2uoppLC |title=Hudson Bay Estuaries |website=pew.org |access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref>
* Having shallow channels and deep basins, the [[Sea of Japan]] could form a mediterranean sea, but the strong currents from the Pacific prevent it from having an independent water circulation.

==See also==
{{Portal|Oceans}}
* [[Inland sea]]
* [[List of seas on Earth#Marginal seas by ocean|Marginal sea]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{empty section|date=February 2025}}

{{List of seas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mediterranean Sea (Oceanography)}}

[[Category:Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Mediterranean| ]]
[[Category:Oceanographical terminology]]